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Monday, 15 February 2016

US tells Turkey to stop shelling Kurds

Washington
and Paris have called on Turkey to cease its massive artillery
bombardment against Kurdish targets near the city of Azaz in
northwest Syria, including an air base recently retaken from Islamist
rebels, and to de-escalate tensions on all sides.

“We
are concerned about the situation north of Aleppo and are working to
deescalate tensions on all sides,” State Department spokesman John
Kirby said in a statement Saturday.

“We
have also seen reports of artillery fire from the Turkish side of the
border and urged Turkey to cease such fire,” he said.

France
also joined the US calls, with the country’s Foreign Ministry
urging Turkey to halt the bombardment of Kurdish areas in Syria.

"France
is worried about the deteriorating situation in the region of Aleppo
and the north of Syria. We call for the cessation of all
bombardments, those of the regime and its allies on the entire
territory and those of Turkey in the Kurdish zones," Paris said
in a statement.

The
priority should be the fight against Islamic State and the
implementation of agreements reached by the International Syria
Support Group (Russia, US and UN) in Munich earlier this week, it
added.

Turkish
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told German Chancellor Angela Merkel
by phone later on Sunday that Turkey’s security forces will to
continue to respond to attacks by the Kurdish YPG militia in northern
Syria, sources in the PM’s office told Reuters.

Turkish
armed forces began heavy artillery fire earlier Saturday, targeting
Kurdish positions in what Turkish military officials called a
"retaliation." The shelling also targeted Syrian forces,
according to a military source quoted by RIA Novosti.

The
Turkish shelling of Kurdish positions continued for over three hours
almost without a break, a Kurdish source told RT. The source added
that the Turkish forces were using mortars and missiles and firing
from the Turkish border not far from the city of Azaz in the Aleppo
Governorate.

The
shelling targeted the Menagh military air base and the nearby village
of Maranaz, where “many civilians were wounded,” local journalist
Barzan Iso told RT. He added that Kurdish forces and their allies
among “the Syrian democratic forces” had taken control of the air
base Thursday.

Kirby
said Turkey and the Syrian Kurdish fighters should work together, as
they both share a serious threat from Islamic State (IS, formerly
ISIS/ISIL) in northern Syria.

He
said that Washington does not consider the Syrian Kurds terrorists.
The comment prompted anger in Ankara. Turkey's Foreign Ministry
summoned the US ambassador John Bass on Tuesday, expressing its
“unease,” AFP reported.

Turkish
Sunday’s Zaman newspaper pointed out that Ankara’s interference
in Syria would lead to the country being at “odds with not only
Russia, but its close ally, the US, as well.”

According
to the paper, US Ambassador Bass asked Turkish officials not to
publicly bring up the differences between Washington and Ankara
concerning the PYD, stressing that the American stance on the Kurdish
fighters would remain unchanged.

Turkish
push to depose Syrian President Bashar Assad is also adding to
tensions with Washington as an unnamed Western diplomat told Sunday's
Zaman that the US and Russia have agreed to keep Assad in power for
some time.